Little Falls transcript., 1887-06-03
not it's superior in any army

not it's superior in any army
in the world. It had held
Fort Sumter during the terrific fire
that crumbled the great stone walls
into fragments and piece Of bursting
shell had struck de Rochelle down
with what was seemingly a m6rtal
wound. He was removed to hospi-
tai under the direction of Surgeon
Jefery, Of the Confederate SERVICE and
for many days in which he lay there
nearer death than conscious life Miss
Pickens was his devoted attendant.
There had been no previous acquaint-
anceship between the beautiful nurse
and her gallant patient. and she had
merely gone to his bedside in the first
instance as she might have gone to
that OF any other soldier; but he we'd
his life to her unf1agging care, and
| when he had passed tho point of dan
ger gratitude was mingled with q
warmer sentiment. The by-play OF
love ran on unchecked in the fierce
theatre OF war, and they became
pledged to marry. They were Of equal
social rank, Lieutenant de Rochelle
having lineage that reached the
Huguenot settlement OF the state.
The marriage was appointed for the
Christmas eve of 1864, in the gloom
that then overshadowed the beleagued
town. 1t was q sombre holiday sea-
son for the people driven from their
shattered homes by the steady rain of
shot and shell, nearly exhausted OF
the commonest necessarles of life and
shrouded in mourning for lost members
OF every household.
The Pickens family mansion Was
within the line of fire from the FEEDER
al batteries, and months previously
had been aband oned. Miss Pickens
had been received into the resi-
dence OF her relative, General Rhett,
which was supposed to be beyond the
range OF their guns, and had SO far es-
capped being hit by any of the mon
strous projectiles that flew into the
city. On Christmas eve the wedding
party were assembled in the parlor
OF the Rhett mansion, one of
the large and handsome houses so
common on all the river frontage OF
old Charleston. Divested ofits costly
and elaborate decorations that mad
gone to swell this or that Confederate
fund, the great room looked barren,
chilly and forbldding. Candles were
almost an unattainable luxury then
the city gas works had long been
wrecked by exploding shel(s-and
some home made device OF illumina-
ton only lit up the little space occu-
pied by the lover and bride and clergy
man. Save for the brilliant uniform
OF the soldier and the white robes OF
the priest of the Episcopal Church,
there seemed no color of warmth in
in the apartment. Finery appropri-
ate to the wedding ceremonies OF dis
tinguished people was not to be
found in the Confederacy, and while
the dozen of guests were men
and women who had known the
opulent and luxurious life OF good
society in the ante bellum day
of Charleston they were now
reduced to homespuns and coarse
cottons. With the harsh discordance
OF the bombardment filing their ears,
and with the knowledge that the
bridegroom must at once quit his
wife's side for service with his COM
mand, a sense of apprehension and sor-
row brooded over the assent blage.
The most serene and self-possessed of
all present, the newspaper reports
said, was Miss Pickens, whose stately
beauty was heightened by contrast
with the surroundings.
The clergyman's voice broke the ST.
lence OF this group with the reading OF
the marriage form, and he had just
reached the interrOgatOries when the
horrible roar OF a shell vastly louder
than those flying over the distant Sec
tions OF the city drowned every other
sound. 1t came from an advanced
battery that General Foster had re-
Gently opened well up on the
inner side OF Morris Island and within
fourmile range of the Rhett resi-
dence. The 900 pounds Of iron load
ed with incendiary material described
q ira ajectory that ended upon the
roof of the house, from whence it
crashed through the intermediate
floors and burst in the midst OF the
wedding party.
When the sitting smoke had cleared
away tolIu lCA NOlllA 41CS
from the suffocating fumes OF the pow
der, the apnrtment-its walls and
ceiling partly blown out, its furniture
knocked into chips, blood spattered
everywhere, fragments of human
formes strewing the foors-was a
scene OF indescribable terror. Three
OF the wedding guests had been in
stantly killed, and not person IN the
room had escaped injury of some sort.
Lieutenant de Rochelle and the
clergyman were only slightly hurt, but
Miss Pickens was prostrate and sat.
urated with the blood that streamed
from where her shoulder had been
cruelty torn by % fragment OF the shell.
A surgeon pronounced her dead, but
when she was laid upon a couch she
slightly revived and endeavored to
speak, each heave other breast causing
the blood to flow in an increasing cur
rent.
De Rochelle approached her side
and placed his ear close to the lips
that were painfully struggling to utter
intelligble words Her eyes sought
the clergyman withsa look that begged
him to draw nigh. He did SO. and de
Rochelle, catching as by inspiration
her meaning, asked her if she would
have the remainder of the ceremony
performed before she died. Again she
made the effort to speak and failed,
and the surgeon warned them that
her life was ebbing fast; but the con-
sent which she could not voice found
expression in an infection of the head.
" Then the clergyman, with his robe
stained from the wound he had re.
ceived, stood over the couch of the
dying woman, whose hand had sought
that of her lover, and proceeded with
the reading of the holy ritual in the